Photo Flash: Inside Opening Night of The Potomac Theatre Project's 32nd Season at The Atlantic Stage 2

PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project), in association with Middlebury College, proudly presents its 32nd repertory season, its 12th consecutive in New York City, in a limited Off-Broadway engagement at The Atlantic Stage 2, located at 330 West 16th Street between 8th and 9th Avenues. Previews began on July 10 for a July 17 opening with performances continuing through August 5.

This season's line-up includes BRECHT ON BRECHT, a theatrical collage culled from the writings of Bertolt Brecht, assembled from his works by George Tabori, directed by Jim Petosa, a double bill featuring Howard Barker's THE POSSIBILITIES, a quartet from an evening of parables, directed by Richard Romagnoli, and Caryl Churchill's BBC teleplay, THE AFTER-DINNER JOKE, directed by Cheryl Faraone, and the company's annual After Dark series.

Performances are Tuesdays - Sundays at 7pm, Saturdays - Sundays at 2pm, and select Wednesdays and Thursdays at 2pm. Schedule varies - for exact days and times visit http://PTPNYC.org. Tickets are $37.50, and $22.50 for students and seniors. Purchase online at http://PTPNYC.org or by calling 1-866-811-4111. For more info visit http://PTPNYC.org, follow on Twitter (https://twitter.com/ptpnyc) at @ptpnyc, and Like them on Facebook at https://www.Facebook.com/pages/Potomac-Theatre-Project-PTP/32709392256.

BRECHT ON BRECHT began previews July 11 for a July 18 opening and runs through August 4.

BRECHT ON BRECHT, adapted by George Tabori, celebrates one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists in a stunning revue of his life's work. Featuring songs and scenes from Kurt Weill, Hanns Eisler, and Bertolt Brecht's most famous collaborations, as well as first-hand accounts from Brecht himself, BRECHT ON BRECHT explores the political and social issues the playwright faced as an artist fleeing Nazism for exile in America.

The cast for BRECHT ON BRECHT includes Harrison Bryan, Christine Hamel, Carla Martinez, Jake Murphy, Miguel Castillo, Olivia Christie, Sebastian LaPointe and Ashley Michelle.

The production team for BRECHT ON BRECHT includes Ronnie Romano (Music Director and Pianist), Hallie Zieselman (Set Design), Joe Cabrera (Lighting Design), Annie Ulrich (Costume Design) and Alex Williamson (Production Stage Manager).

The double bill of Howard Barker's THE POSSIBILITIES and Caryl Churchill's THE AFTER-DINNER JOKE began previews July 10 for a July 17 opening and runs through August 5.

Four short plays explore actions unexplainable by logic or rationality. From the biblical Judith to Czar Alexander to a bookseller who hordes her stock for fear that knowledge may fall into the wrong hands to a woman whose dress is investigated by the state as a provocation to men: these four plays contain all of Howard Barker's signature wit and complexity.

The cast for THE POSSIBILITIES includes Christopher Marshall, Marianne Tatum, Jonathan Tindle, Kathleen Wise, Adam Milano, Eliza Renner and Madeleine Russell.

Told in 66 brief episodic scenes, the plot of THE AFTER-DINNER JOKE follows Selby, a young woman who quits her secretarial job to pursue her passion for 'doing good.' As a charity worker, she earnestly avoids political issues, only to discover the impossibility of this. "There's something political in everything."

The cast for THE AFTER-DINNER JOKE includes Tara Giordano, Christo Grabowski, Christopher Marshall, Jonathan Tindle, Lucy Van Atta, Kathleen Wise, Roxy Adviento, Madeline Ciocci, Noah Liebmiller, Adam Milano, Eliza Renner and Madeleine Russell.

The production team for THE POSSIBILITIES and THE AFTER-DINNER JOKE includes Hallie Zieselman (Set Design), Joe Cabrera (Lighting Design), Annie Ulrich (Costume Design), Cormac Bluestone (Sound Design) and Devin Wein (Production Stage Manager). Animation Projection by Kyle Meredith for The After-Dinner Joke.

This season's After Dark series will focus on the 'temper of the times,' performed and curated by long-time company members. Displacement, the plight of refugees and the exiled, the search for compassion - all link the trio of works. Events take place at The Atlantic Stage 2. Admission is free and reservations are recommended. To RSVP email PTPAfterDarks@gmail.com.

The After Dark line-up includes:

Howard Barker's PLEVNA: Meditations on Hatred (Thursday - Saturday, July 26 - 28 at 9:45pm). A dramatic poem on the aftermath of the Siege of Plevna, a Turkish town taken by the Russians in 1877. Performed by Alex Draper and directed by Richard Romagnoli.

David Hare's VIA DOLOROSA (Tuesday, July 31 & Friday, August 3 at 9:45pm) deals eloquently, compassionately and feelingly with most of the issues roiling Israel and Palestine. Performed by Jonathan Tindle.

PTP/NYC (Potomac Theatre Project) continues to redefine politically aware theatre for the 21st century by presenting theatrically complex and thought-provoking work of contemporary social and cultural relevance. Howard Barker is one of PTP/NYC's most produced writers, along with Caryl Churchill, Neal Bell, Sarah Kane and David Edgar. The company's writers are provocative, engaging and often confrontational.

PTP was founded in 1987 by the artistic team of Cheryl Faraone, Jim Petosa and Richard Romagnoli who continue to run the company. Alex Draper is Associate Artistic Director. Since moving to New York in 2007, PTP/NYC has produced 25 main stage productions and numerous late evening readings, workshops and experimental theatre pieces in their After Dark series. The company is committed to the training of young actors and designers, enabling them to work with experienced and generous professionals as they serve an apprenticeship and begin their own work in the theatre. PTP/NYC's 2013 New York premiere of Howard Barker's The Castle and 2008 production of Barker's Scenes From An Execution each earned the late Jan Maxwell a Drama Desk Award nomination.

The Atlantic Stage 2 is accessible from the A, C, E, L trains to 14 St./8 Ave. or the 1, 2, 3 trains to 14 St.

Photo Credit: Jimmy Ryan